68 MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT. 



Maryland Yellow-throat: Geothlypis triclias. 



Length about 5/4 inches. 



Male, upper parts olive-green; a broad black band bor- 

 dered with gray, across the forehead, passing through and 

 beyond the eyes. 



Throat and breast bright yellow. 



Female, without black mask, and her yellow breast duller. 



Resident (abundant) from April 20 to October 20; win- 

 ters in the Southern States, West Indies and Central Amer- 

 ica. 



The Yellow-throat is an active, energetic little bird 

 with a nervous habit of jerking his tail. He is a 

 common inhabitant of thickets that border streams, 

 and is seldom seen anywhere else except in spring 

 migration, when he visits orchards and gardens to 

 get the insects from fruit blossoms. His food is ex- 

 clusively caterpillars, insects and larvae, and he is 

 entirely useful. His call-note is a sharp chuck and 

 his common song Dr. Richmond gives as " rit-a- 

 witch-a," several times repeated. He has also a 

 pleasant chatter as he flits about the bushes, and 

 rarely a warbling flight song: The last, Mr. Chap- 

 man says, " is usually uttered toward evening, when 

 the bird springs several feet into the air, hovers a 

 moment, and then drops back into the bushes/' The 

 nest is generally on the ground and so well hidden 

 and guarded that it is not likely to be found by search- 

 ing, nor will the vigilant birds be surprised into reveal- 

 ing its locality. The eggs, 3 to 5, are. white, thinly 

 speckled. 



